


Love and Cuddles

by WhiskersandQuiff



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: 2011!phan, Cuddles, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Happy Birthday Juls!, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-23
Updated: 2019-03-23
Packaged: 2019-11-28 09:15:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18206504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhiskersandQuiff/pseuds/WhiskersandQuiff
Summary: It's the end of Dan's first year of uni and he needs some reassurance. Lucky for him, Phil is more than willing to provide it.





	Love and Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pasteldnp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasteldnp/gifts).



> I wrote this for [pasteldnp](https://pasteldnp.tumblr.com) because it's her birthday!! This was meant to be a fic about Dan turning 20 since Juls is turning 20, but uh it kinda became this instead lol

Dan thought he was pretty good at school, generally. He’d gotten pretty good marks throughout his years at secondary school and those had landed him his spot at the University of Manchester, so he figured that was a pretty good sign. 

What he hadn’t realized was that uni work would be much, much worse. Of course, he’d heard all about the change in workload, but it was still a shock. 

Maybe part of it was just that he lacked the motivation to care. He wasn’t all that interested in law, anyway, so he hadn’t done himself any favors when choosing to study it. 

And now here he was, caught in the consequences of his decision. Exams had just ended and the results were in, but he couldn’t bear to look at them, at least not alone. 

He hadn’t done well and he knew it. Not the kind of “knew it” that high achievers had, where they assumed the worst even though everyone else knew they definitely did the best out of everyone, but the kind of “knew it” where it was a definite reality that he had to face. He hadn’t revised enough, hadn’t cared enough, hadn’t tried hard enough. 

And why should he? He didn’t care about the exams, he didn’t care about the degree. It was bullshit anyway, just a qualification to slap on a resume to get him a job so he could get on with his life after school. 

Dan found himself standing in front of Phil’s building, all his belongings packed away in a few cases beside him from moving out of his student residence. He would be staying with Phil a few more days before returning to his family home for the summer, and he was ready to spend as much time as possible in Phil’s arms. 

Except he also wasn’t ready. He knew Phil would encourage him to look at his marks and see how he did and even the prospect of looking at them with Phil, the most supportive person he’d ever met, was terrifying. 

His phone buzzed with a text and he looked down to read it. 

**Phil:** hey you okay? it’s a bit later than usual 

Dan looked at the time and realized he had been standing outside for half an hour. He was always running late anyway, but Phil’s concern was to be expected. 

**Dan:** yeah sorry just got here

**Dan:** buzz me in?

The door buzzed a few seconds later in response and Dan entered the building, tugging his luggage behind him. He hobbled over to the lifts and hit the button, then clambered on when the doors opened. Phil was waiting for him when the lift opened again on his floor. 

“Hey!” he said brightly. “Here, lemme take that.” He reaches out and grabbed two of the cases, leaving Dan with just his backpack and a wheelie suitcase. Phil turned and led the way down the hall to his flat. Once inside, they quickly deposited the luggage by the door. 

Dan turned towards Phil but kept his gaze downward. In his periphery, he saw Phil’s arms outstretched for a hug, which he gratefully accepted. 

Hugging Phil was always a sure way to calm Dan’s racing mind. Even if he couldn’t completely relax, he could at least feel grounded to reality when he was in Phil’s arms. 

Dan sighed into the hug, stepping closer so they pressed against each other tightly and burying his face in Phil’s neck. 

“Hey, Bear,” Phil whispered. “You okay?”

Dan shrugged and let out a noncommittal grunt. 

Phil gently lifted a hand to cup Dan’s cheek to raise his head and look into his eyes. 

“I love you,” he murmured, his thumb softly stroking Dan’s cheekbone. 

A small smile graced Dan’s features, and he leaned forward to kiss Phil. He pulled back after only a few seconds. “I love you, too. Cuddles?”

Phil nodded and dropped the embrace, picking up Dan’s hand to guide him farther into the flat and finally tug him onto the sofa. Dan climbed into Phil’s lap, sitting sideways across it and leaning into Phil’s torso. Phil’s hand reached up to stroke through Dan’s hair, and Dan let his eyes fall shut. 

One of the things Dan most appreciated about Phil was that he wasn’t pushy. He could recognize when Dan had something on his mind, but he’d let Dan tell him what was wrong on his own time. In the meantime, Phil would hold him securely, his arms a comforting reminder of his presence. 

A while later, Dan worked up the courage to say what he was worried about. 

“Exam marks are in,” he mumbled into Phil’s chest. “I haven’t looked.”

Phil hummed quietly and pressed a kiss to the top of Dan’s head, but otherwise didn’t comment. 

“I didn’t do well. I know I just said I haven’t looked, but there’s absolutely no possible way,” Dan continued, feeling the tension rise in him once more. “I don’t know what that means. What will I have to do next? It’s terrifying.”

“It’s okay if you didn’t do well,” Phil began. 

“But-“

“No, really,” Phil confirmed. He said it sternly, leaving no room for argument, and yet he still sounded gentle. “Your test scores don’t define you. It’s still okay to be afraid of the future and what your next steps will be, but schoolwork can never define you as a person.”

“What will I do if I fail?” Dan whispered after a moment. “I’d let my parents down, I won’t be able to come back to uni here, I’ll have nothing else to do. I had no backup plan.” 

“You could live with me until you figure something out,” Phil offered, “and your YouTube channel has been really taking off lately. I’d say that’s a pretty good backup plan, even if it’s not necessarily a guarantee either.”

Dan tilted his head back so he could see Phil. “You’d let me live with you?” he asked quietly.

Phil nodded, a small, cheeky smile growing on his face. “You have a toothbrush and a drawer, Dan, it’s not like this is unprecedented.” 

Dan scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Don’t use that word, it’s too much of a law-word.”

“Ooh, but if I do, you’ll make that cute face again,” Phil teased. “Your nose all squished is adorable.” He booped Dan’s nose with his finger, then replaced the finger with his lips for a quick peck. 

“Phiiiiiiiil,” Dan whined, but a giggle made his feigned irritation less effective than he’d intended. He hid his face in Phil’s chest again, hiding his blush and grin. He felt Phil’s arms tighten around him and he sighed contentedly. 

Dan always loved times like this, when they could just quietly sit in each other’s arms and exist together. Somehow, Phil could always convince him that everything would be okay with only a few words and a gentle cuddle. 

“Will you check my results with me?” he asked a few minutes later. 

“Of course, Bear,” Phil assured him. “Whenever you’re ready.”

Later that night, Dan would pull out his laptop with shaky hands and find the website where his exams were posted, Phil offering quiet encouragements. Dan would get the confirmation of his less-than-ideal marks, which would be scary for a moment, but then Phil would remind him that exams were not the be-all and end-all, and he’d begin the process of accepting that maybe law wasn’t what he was meant to do. 

In the meantime, love and cuddles were all Dan would need. 

**Author's Note:**

> I also post to my Tumblr! See the rest of my fics [here](https://whiskersandquiff.tumblr.com/fics-masterlist)


End file.
